Residents association concerned over potholes (From Watford Observer)

Hillside Residents’ Association concerned over potholes in Abbots Langley

3:30pm Thursday 2nd August 2012 in News By Ben Endley, Senior reporter

An Abbots Langley residents’ group has hit out at the state of village's roads, claiming potholes are poorly repaired or left altogether.

The Hillside Residents’ Association say it has taken up to six months after they used Hertfordshire County Council ’s online reporting system before the holes were fixed.

Even then, the quality of the repairs is so poor that the new tarmac comes loose and the problem returns in a matter of months.

Peter Scott, chairman of the residents’ association, identified The Graylings as an area of particular concern due to the high volume of traffic travelling down it and the number of filled and unfilled holes on it.

He said: "We report the pot holes, some are fixed and some aren’t but The Graylings seems to get left year after year.

"If any road on this estate is done properly it should be The Graylings.

"They just can’t grasp how frequently used it is because it doesn’t show as a main road on a map so to them it’s not a main road but it’s well used as a short cut onto South Way.

"The problem is when you call the highways people they are based all the way over in Hertford and don’t know the area, one of them said to me ‘Abbots Langley, where’s that?’."

Hertfordshire County Council aim to tackle every pothole within 14 days and say dangerous ones or those on main roads are often tackled within 24 hours.

Simon Hoggett, a county council spokesman, said only two pot hole had been reported on The Graylings in the last six months, neither was judged to be serious and they were repaired accordingly. The road is due to be resurfaced in 2014/15.

He added: "We would encourage the public to report all road defects including potholes."